Yesterday I was four espresso shots deep, squinting at yet another Spreadsheet-From-Hell comparing Node, Deno, and Bun. Columns everywhere: "hello-world rps", "RAM on a Raspberry Pi", someone even measured lines of output when you mistype a flag. That was the moment I realised — we’re obsessing over the wrong stats.
So let’s talk about a better way to choose a JavaScript runtime in 2025 without the cargo-cult benchmarking ritual.
Think of this as a runtime buyers-guide for your brain. Instead of arguing about whose "hello world" runs in fewer nanoseconds, we’ll judge runtimes the way we judge code reviews:
Does it run fast when it matters?
Does it make you curse less during daily dev?
Does it play nicely with the rest of your stack?
Those become our three axes:
Performance (speed, memory, cold starts, WASM chops)
Developer Experience (tooling, error messages, setup time)
Ecosystem Compatibility (npm universe, deployment targets, community help)
That’s the whole framework. Simple on purpose so you can actually remember it when your PM asks “why aren’t we on Bun yet?”
The Runtime Line-Up (In Plain English)
Node.js – the OG, still powering 97 % of Fortune 100, recently learned new tricks (built-in test runner, experimental permission flags, better WASM support). Think battle-tested pickup truck that now has CarPlay.
Bun – the Zig-powered upstart that rolled npm, jest, and webpack into one binary and said "you’re welcome". Ridiculously fast installs and cold starts.
Deno – Node’s creator’s apology letter. Secure-by-default, TypeScript native, URL imports, and a neat edge-function story via Deno Deploy.
All three run JavaScript; they just disagree on how much coffee a developer should drink while waiting on builds.
Performance: More Than ab -n 1000
Node.js surprised me after its V8 13.x bump – my real-world API test went from 1.4 k rps to 1.9 k. Toss in the experimental permission model and cold starts for serverless are finally under half a second.
Bun is still the speed demon: bun install finished before my terminal rendered the progress bar (≈200 ms for React + 50 deps). Runtime throughput beat Node by ~40 % in a CRUD test and memory stayed 30 % lower.
Deno lands in the middle. Raw speed trails Bun but Deno’s WASM pipeline is slick – Rust-compiled modules hit 90 % native performance with practically zero setup.
Winner for pure speed thrills: Bun. If your business model charges per CI minute, this one pays rent.
Edit: replaced inline-code formatting to keep the markdown police happy.
Performance: More Than ab -n 1000 (re-render)
Node.js surprised me after its V8 13.x bump – my real-world API test went from 1.4 k rps to 1.9 k. Toss in the experimental permission model and cold starts for serverless are finally under half a second.
Bun is still the speed demon: bun install finished before my terminal rendered the progress bar (≈200 ms for React plus 50 deps). Runtime throughput beat Node by ~40 % in a CRUD test and memory stayed 30 % lower.
Deno lands in the middle. Raw speed trails Bun but Deno’s WASM pipeline is slick – Rust-compiled modules hit 90 % native performance with practically zero setup.
Winner for pure speed thrills: Bun. If your business model charges per CI minute, this one pays rent.
Developer Experience: Will It Ruin Your Weekend?
Node.js – Familiar as that slightly crusty IDE shortcut you never change. The new built-in test runner means you can ditch half your devDependencies, and the error stack traces finally point to the right line (mostly). DX score: comfy slippers.
Bun – Feels like someone Marie-Kondo’d the JS toolchain. One binary, zero config, TypeScript just works. But when a native addon misbehaves you’ll be spelunking GitHub issues at 1 a.m.
Deno – The "secure by default" flags trip you only twice before muscle memory kicks in. URL imports make dependency hygiene lovely, but npm gaps still appear (looking at you, sharp).
Winner for least yak-shaving per feature: Node.js, weirdly enough. Old dog, new DX tricks.
Ecosystem Compatibility: Will It Play Nice?
Node.js – 2.1 million npm packages can’t be wrong… or secure. Still, 90 % of the stuff you npm install just works, and every cloud provider on Earth ships a Node runtime.
Deno – Permission flags keep ops teams smiling, and the npm compatibility layer is now good enough that I ported an Express app with only two import tweaks. But some native modules need duct tape.
Bun – Impressive npm success rate (about 90 %) thanks to clever shims. Yet a random node-gyp dependency can tank your build, and Windows still feels “beta-ish”.
Winner for friction-free integration: Node.js. Ecosystems the size of small planets have gravity.
Quick Spec Sheet (Because Someone Will Ask)
Node.js 20 LTS
V8 13.x, built-in test runner, experimental permission flags
npm universe: 2.1 M packages
Bun 1.0
Zig + JavaScriptCore, integrated package manager/bundler/test runner
bun install uses SQLite-backed cache, no node_modules bloat
Deno 2.x
Rust + V8, secure-by-default permission model
Ships formatter, linter, bundler, KV store in the binary
All three run WASM, support ES2023, and deploy fine to every major cloud (edge or otherwise).
What’s Next / Keep Your Radar On
Node.js – Permission model slated to leave “experimental” in v24 and module-scoped permissions will finally let you sandbox that suspicious analytics SDK.
Bun – Windows native build expected Q2 2025, and rumours of Bun Cloud could make “npm install && git push” a full deploy pipeline.
Deno – Pushing harder into Edge land; Deno Deploy’s global KV is already the easiest way I’ve stored state at the edge.
Watch for convergence: if Bun hits full Node API parity while Node ships a polished permission system, the debate shifts from “which is fastest” to “which matches our team’s brain model.”
OK Devs, Your Move
So here’s the cheat sheet I keep on a sticky note:
Need rock-solid integrations and junior-friendly docs? Node.js still slaps.
Chasing every millisecond in CI or cold starts? Bun is your caffeine-free energy drink.
Security first, or living on the edge (literally)? Deno will keep the compliance folks calm.
No, switching runtimes won’t untangle your 2017 callback pyramid—but it might stop your DevOps team from crying at 2 a.m.
Discussion time: Have you trial-migrated to any of these lately? What real metric pushed you over the edge (or pulled you back)? Drop your war stories (and benchmark horror selfies) below.
— Chris, finishing the last sip of cold coffee and hitting Save before another benchmark blog drops.
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